5 Things We Learned About Disney World's Cool Kids' Summer 2026

Last week, Disney invited /Film, a few other media outlets, and a handful of influencers to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, to preview Cool Kids' Summer, which lasts from May 26 through September 8, 2026. It's essentially a catch-all term for the experience of vacationing at Disney World during the summer months, highlighting newly revamped attractions, dance parties and games for kids, and even activities taking place at the various company resorts. 

We had a chance to speak with several Imagineers, one actor, and even some a couple of Muppets (stay tuned to our YouTube page for that special conversation coming soon), but for the purposes of this article, we're going to focus on five of the most interesting thing we learned from those conversations and taking a spin on several of the key attractions across Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios.

Morgan McDowell, the project manager for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, told me that the attraction has been upgraded for the first time since its unveiling. "For the scope of this project, we were upgrading all of our show-game computers from the old ones. And with that, we updated to Unreal Engine 5, as well as all new NVIDIA GPUs, and then running this all-new, essentially a video game, but in an interaction experience, for our guests," she explained, highlighting that Smugglers Run is now running at 4K, 60 frames per second and operating on the same game engine that Jon Favreau uses for "The Mandalorian" TV series. 

The new "The Mandalorian and Grogu" movie gave the Imagineers a ticking clock to accomplish their work quickly. "From the start, the goal here was to open the attraction day-and-date with the movie," McDowell said. "So you're able to go see 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' on the big screen and you're able to come here to the parks to ride an attraction featuring them."

While interactivity has always been the name of the game with this attraction, the latest upgrade includes a whole new level of choice for riders. "One of my favorite things on the new mission is, as we're flying through all of these iconic 'Star Wars' planets and landscapes, if we see a tunnel to the left, we can fly through that tunnel," McDowell said. "We're given those branching choices throughout the game, which is similar to a traditional video game, but we're doing it here in an emotion base, within an entire attraction. I think that's my favorite unlock that we've got."

On the upgraded ride, participants will be able to unlock adventures that unfold in Bespin, the wreckage of the second Death Star, and McDowell's personal favorite, Coruscant. "It's very reminiscent of the prequels, in my opinion, with Obi-Wan and Anakin flying through a crowded busy city through traffic," she said. "We also have personally a lot of fun Easter eggs to look out for, I think, in that and what you see on the neon signs here and there."

Elsewhere in Disney's Hollywood Studios, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is no longer starring Aerosmith, but has been re-themed to feature The Muppets. "This is still the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster," Imagineer Todd Richins told me. "It's never going to change. That's a brand that Walt Disney Imagineering has created and something that we wanted to maintain, and who better in The Muppets to represent that than The Electric Mayhem?" Instead of Aerosmith rushing across Los Angeles to make it to their concert, guests will now see Dr. Teeth, Janice, Floyd, Zoot, Lips, and Animal in a similar situation.

But variability was key to this new experience. "We wanted to make sure that guests could keep coming back, time and time again, and see different things, hear different things, notice different details," Richins said. Guests will hear five different songs on the attraction, there's over 45 minutes of new Muppets media in the queue — "Longer than the Disney+ show," Richins quipped — there are five different pre-shows involving different Muppets calling in, and there are three different launch sequences involving Animal to kick the ride into high gear. 

The queue also features screen-used props from "The Muppet Movie," "Muppets Most Wanted," and more, pulled from a Muppet warehouse. "And then there's also stuff from Muppet*Vision 3D that we brought over too," Richins revealed. And speaking of the now-departed Muppet*Vision 3D, Richins' favorite Easter egg is "when you're riding the attraction, on the left-hand side, there's a little sign that says 'Obligatory Easter egg' and it's Waldo, the 3D character from Muppet*Vision, so it's a little callback to their previous attraction."

Questlove, Kelly Clarkson, and Jennifer Hudson recorded new material for this, and visitors might see familiar faces like John Stamos, Awkwafina, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Darren Criss, or Yvette Nicole Brown appear along the way as well.

I had the opportunity to briefly speak with Joan Cusack, who lends her voice to Jessie in the "Toy Story" movies. While her co-star Tom Hanks lets his brother Jim do a soundalike voice as Woody in toys, theme parks, video games, and Disney on Ice (I interviewed Jim Hanks for a piece about voiceover actors and artificial intelligence a few years ago), Cusack does Jessie's voice everywhere. "I really feel like I want Jessie to be authentically Jessie, so I do all [the voice work in the parks] because I just like it better and I feel like I can play with it a little more," she explained. "I love her, so I'm happy to do her voice."

That includes the vocal performance as Jessie in Jessie's Roundup: A Rip-Roarin' Revue, which is taking place in the old Diamond Horseshoe at Magic Kingdom. In fact, this will be the first show at that location in over 20 years. There was an outcry when Muppet*Vision 3D was wiped out, proving that Disney traditionalists remain extremely vocal and can sometimes react negatively to the tiniest change in the park. When I asked Cusack what she might say to a Disney theme park obsessive who may be disappointed that a new show was coming into that space, she seemed pained by the question. "I think go and see it, because it's so good. I did the voice for it on Friday, and it's all about making friends and kids making friends, which I think is so important. And it's fun. So I think if you see it, you won't feel like that."

Wyatt Winter, an executive producer at Walt Disney Imagineering, knows people pay extra close attention to the classic attractions. That certain includes Big Thunder Mountain, which reopened earlier this month after getting a top to bottom refurbishment. "I am a fan at heart myself," Winter told me. "So having worked there, been part of it, and helped create the Barnabas T. Bullion character a decade ago, it's finding those things that really resonate with all of our guests, our fans, and ourselves, and what can you do to just keep pushing the story — maybe not changing it, but enhancing it." Sometimes that involves focus groups, but largely, they rely on internal conversations to figure out the balance of how much to tweak at any given time.

This time around, guests might notice that the height requirement for the attraction has been lowered, opening up the experience to a whole new group of younger riders. "It's a great experience now, really for everybody," Winter said. "It's still the wildest ride in the wilderness, but it's nice when you get all new trains and a little system [update] in there too."

There's also another element Winter is excited about. "The Rainbow Caverns is a favorite of mine coming in," he said, lighting up at the prospect. "And really the whole idea that you've gone into this mine and you see some warnings, you know something's a little off here. As you see this beautiful mine, nature's luring you in and you hear that crack of thunder, everything shifts and turns [...] But just that beauty and the danger of nature and all of that is a fun piece of it. It is visually beautiful."

And finally, Magic Kingdom's Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin has some new upgrades, just in time for "Toy Story 5." "This attraction's been around for almost 30 years," said producer Kimberly Alison. "We knew 'Toy Story' was an amazing franchise that we wanted to keep. The idea, though, is to kind of think about the new technology 30 years later. It was time to think about a new way to do the game system, to make it even more fun than it was before. We really put a lot of love and thought into what the game system improvements would be."

Some of those improvements include additional targets and some reimagined show scenes, and maybe the most noticeable improvement: handheld blasters that have an "always-on" laser that gives the user a better sense of where they're aiming. 

"We are so excited to introduce a brand new character, Buddy," Alison said, mentioning that the collaborated with Pixar on the design of that character — including one of the designers who worked on Buzz Lightyear in the original "Toy Story" movie. "Buddy is our support bot from Star Command. She's there in the launchport, helping you test out your blasters for the first time, get a little calibrated, do some final checks on your Star Cruisers before you're off on your adventure. We're so excited to have collaborative with Pixar on the design of that new character. We see her right at the beginning."

And naturally, eagle-eyed fans might be rewarded by paying extra-close attention to what pops up during the attraction. "We are encouraging guests to keep an eye out for a multicolor ring on a target," Alison says with a gleam in her eye. "That might be something that might unlock something special, if you're able to keep an eye out for that and hit that."